Amities . l have been discreetly buying this stock since it was 39p . And the more i learn the bolder are the positions i take . .....Floated in Dec 2004 it was oversubscribed and before costs the required $15 million was raised. At the helm is ex BP head of Global exploration and Resavoir management . Furthermore a success story at Global Expo . Now Nick Johnstone wants to set up on his own . And after speaking to him l am not at all surprised . He is like a "Who s Who " of the hydrocarbon world ...He has ALL the prerequisites for success so why work for some other lackey ! .. namely connections from his ertwhistle employers . He has assembled a first class management team from ex colleauges at BP ; and is his business model is simple . AFR farms in on "Big Oils " inception upstream ; and with its scale of economy it works closely with "Big oils" fields on the look out for excellent workovers oppertunities .... Already lt has via a complicated j/v a percentage of the Sao Tome and Principe acreage -Located between the oil rich waters of Nigeria and those of Sao Tome and operated by Texaco / Chevron and Esso; and believed by many to be the new North sea . . 3D Seismic testing and magnetic graphic imagery and satellite imaging has located a labyrinth of channels leading to a main resavoir which is believed to14-15 mmbbls of oil and which would leave AFR with its share of 120/140 million barrels for NO cash outlay .To ensure early cash generation Afren has entered into a production sharing agreement in the developed Ogedeh field { adjacent to the BP operated Olowi marin field which is believed to yield 180 mmbbloe. Furthernore AFR has agreed to drill the lbekelia project for Ascent resources which is expected to produce 2,500 b/pdoe to satisfy AFR percentile share ,ln addition it is a believed resouce of several years . .. , .Not a bad start for a company with little more than six months in the making . ....and well worthy of investigation !! .....@+ J

Todays RNS illustrates that things are begining to get exiting

Good morning TheFrenchConnection , yes indeed!

Production Vessel for Okoro Setu Project

London, 17 April 2007 - Afren plc ('Afren' or 'the Company') and its partner
Amni International Petroleum Development Company ('AMNI') announce the signature
of a contract for a Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) for
the Okoro Setu Project, offshore Nigeria.



The Boards of Afren and AMNI are pleased to announce the signature of a contract
for an FPSO vessel, the Armada Perkasa, which is the final milestone in ensuring
the Company is positioned to commence production from the Okoro Setu Project in
early 2008.



The Armada Perkasa is owned and operated by Bumi Armada Berhad, a major FPSO
marine operator that is part of the Usaha Tegas group, one of the largest
investment groups in Malaysia. The vessel storage capacity is 360,000 barrels
with a processing capacity of 27,000 barrels per day. The vessel will be leased
to the Okoro Setu project over a fixed 5 year period. The unit will process the
total well fluids, producing stabilised crude for storage in the FPSO, with
subsequent regular off-take by tanker.



Following the successful appraisal drilling programme, completed in December
2006, Afren has put in place the drilling capability, financing structure,
development plan and now the production capacity for the Okoro Setu Project, in
order to achieve its production target of 15,000 - 20,000 barrels per day in
early 2008:



Fully underwritten US$200 million debt facility
Government approval for the Field Development Plan
FPSO contract secured
Development drilling scheduled to commence in Q3 2007 with the Global
Santa Fe Adriatic VI drilling unit contracted for a nine month programme





Osman Shahenshah, Chief Executive of Afren, commented:



'It is testament to the strength of Afren's management and technical team, and
its close working relationship with AMNI, its indigenous partner, that in less
than a year since agreeing its involvement in the project the Company is now
fully prepared and well positioned to commence production from the Okoro Setu
Project in early 2008.



'This announcement represents the final in a series of operational milestones
Afren has set out to achieve in recent months. We now look forward to continued
progress on our new ventures pipeline and starting development drilling in Q3
2007.'

Good morning seawallwalker another piece of the jigsaw now in place

From the Oil Barrel 18/04/2007


Afren Signs FPSO Contract And Is Ready To Roll At Okoro Setu
With the signing of a five year lease for a 27,000 barrel per day FPSO, Afren plc has put in place the final piece of the development jigsaw on its Okoro Setu project offshore Nigeria. The AIM company is now on track to start producing from the Okoro and Setu oil deposits early next year, which should see the company meet its production goal of 15-20,000 barrels per day by mid-2008. Were now ready to roll, chief executive Osman Shahenshah told oilbarrel.com.

The FPSO, the Armada Perkasa, owned and operated by Malaysian firm Bumi Armada Berhad, has a storage capacity of 360,000 barrels and a processing capacity of 27,000 bpd. The unit will process the total well fluids, producing stabilised crude for storage in the FPSO with regular offtake by shuttle tanker. Associated gas will be used to power the vessel and used as lift gas to assist well productivity.

This is a significant milestone for Afren. Although not as hard to source as suitable drilling equipment, FPSOs are also in demand in the current market. This is a good vessel and we were able to negotiate good terms, said Shahenshah. We negotiated about a 15 per cent discount compared to what we thought we would have to pay. It is also a significant deal for Bumi Armada Berhad, marking its first FPSO contract in West African waters.

Afren has a fixed five year lease on the Armada Perkasa, with an option to then extend for another five years or buy the vessel outright. The Okoro Setu project has a base case life span of eight years. This could be extended or it could be produced more quickly, said Shahenshah.

The FPSO will be moored 1 km south of the field. The field will be drained by six deviated or horizontal gravel-packed wells, supported by a minimum facilities wellhead platform, with the crude exported to the FPSO by pipeline. The wells will start drilling in the third quarter using Global SantaFes Adriatic VI rig. Production from two wells will start early in 2008, with peak production of between 15,000 and 20,000 bpd by May.

The development is being financed by a fully underwritten US$200 million debt facility secured against the Okoro Setu reserves. The banks also demonstrated their confidence in the project by subscribing to a US$15 million equity investment in Afren.

The Okoro and Setu oil discoveries lie in OML 112 in the shallow waters of the eastern Niger Delta. Okoro was discovered in the 1970s and two wells have confirmed oil in two sands. Setu was discovered by local oil firm Amni International in 2002 and flowed between 1,500 and 3,500 barrels per day from five reservoir sands.

Afren is the technical services partner of Amni, which was awarded the fallow fields in 1993 as part of the Nigerian governments policy to encourage an indigenous oil industry. Amni joined forces with Afren in June 2006 and appraisal drilling quickly got underway.

Okoro-3 was drilled to 6,500 ft and confirmed the eastern extension of the field. A second well was drilled as a deviated sidetrack from the Okoro-3 wellbore, encountering a better than expected 70 ft of net oil pay. An independent reserves audit puts the 1P oil reserves for Okoro and Setu at 25 million barrels with the 2P number standing at 32 million barrels but there could be as much as 60 million barrels.

With all the pieces in place for Okoro Setu, Afren now plans to step up efforts on the Ogedeh development, also in the Niger Delta. The field was discovered by Chevron in 1993 when the oil giant was looking for a 100 million barrel accumulation. Ogedeh holds between 5 and 15 million barrels - not enough for the US oil major but sufficient to make a difference to a company of Afrens size

The company also has an active new ventures pipeline and expects to add some new projects to the portfolio before too long, both in Nigeria and further afield in West Africa. Speaking at the oilbarrel.com conference earlier this month, Shahenshah referred to a recent estimate from Total, which claims there are 16 billion barrels of undeveloped oil in the Nigerian onshore and shallow waters. This resource is held in pockets too small to interest the oil majors. Afren plans to take advantage of the opportunity this presents.

Sometime in Q1 of 2008 i strongly suspect we shall be cracking open some chateaus des Lafite Rothschild or Haut Brion or even bolly BUT not slumming it with Moet which maybe French champagne but is strictly for the masses ...l have a great feeeling about this one @+ J

I think so TheFrenchConnection

I see all the pieces fitting into place as many people are saying but is the sp stuck down with super glue!

Its just possible that this one has been seriously overlooked and when production gets going the sp could explode

Trouble for me is i bought a lot @ 82p, still 18% down with these.

My average is about 56p now i did buy a few in the 70s but managed to average down buying in the 40s
The one thing about this company is they do what they say and nearer production start up the more the s/p will climb and these s/ps will be long gone
I would like to think the company my surprise us up to production start up and lets not forget JDZ this is by all means not over

Keith

Mes amities a' vous / Salut ! The most singular variable analyists abhor reg oil PURE exploration outfits is DELAY ,or not adherring to the original business model/ plan ,that was originally set before them . As you all know Oil exploration is a highly cash intensive business with operators incurring average daily costs of 60,000 p/d on a single well.( unless, of course, you are an offshore expo when costs can reach as high as 120,000 p/d ) These costs are also excerbated by a very tight rotary count . For example DES and FOGL have waiting two years for suitable drills to become available. ........Now reg.Afren; We have been a model of utter consistency.That has not gone unoticed by the big institutions or hi value individuals as bourne out by our shareholders list . .Akin to completing a jigsaw have worked methodically, professionally, and with great patience . Our board, and snr management, are all well known in the industry and, perhaps more importantly , in the city. All are proven variables .We have a team of geolists of the finest calibre and led by one of the leading lights in the entire industry .. For NEVER, and i mean NEVER foget that when you invest in a fledgeling PURE expo YOU are investing and utterly dependant on the calibre of your management and esp. YOUR geologists. Both are a very rare breed and the difference between success and failure As a consequence of the 2002/2006 price hike in crude a vast plethora of new expo outfits have sprung up out of nowhere ..Most are doomed to utter failure . But we have the very best of everything . From the board and employees to financing from banks, institutions and investment houses.. ln addition, and finally, we have in the Niger Delta acreage which Woods and Mckenzie reffered to as "the new North sea" and other concessions in West and central Africa inc. one field adjacent to French "big oil" players Total/Elfs patch and French midcaps M&P acreage at La Noumbi in the Congo , which all look extremely promising and exiting .The future is ours.lts their for the taking . Of that i am sure . So enjoy the ride. ..................For the record i have positions as low as 39p but as high as 71p- and am NOT in the habit of throwing a tad in excess of 275,000 of my own money into very big holes in the ground !!!!!,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,sois sages et a'bientot mes potes !! Faires attention .......@+ ..J......................................................................................................................................................................................................................Your quite correct Keith the debacle reg.JDZ has far from reached ANY conclusion

Your not the only one up early ' J ' @+

havent been to bed R. Too busy.....@+ J

Proactive Investors One2One Forum

Tuesday 24th April

Proactive Investors One2One Forums Present:

Fat Prophets, Cardinal Resources & Afren Oil

Fat Prophets will inform attendees of its outlook for crude oil during 2007 and the foreseeable future. This will be followed by two oil and gas focused companies listed on the London AIM market, Cardinal Resources and Afren Oil. All attendees will be welcome for the duration of the presentations which is expected to last 60 minutes, starting from 6pm.

After the presentations are complete, Fat Prophets Chartered Financial Analysts & the directors of Cardinal Resources and Afren Oil will be available to take questions during a free canapand wine reception which will be open until 9pm.

5:45pm for a prompt 6:00pm start at the Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel 35 Charles Street, Mayfair, W1J 5EB Click here for a map of the venue

Canap and wine reception to follow
We look forward to your attendance.

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/eventregistration.asp

Can't make it. But would be grateful if somebody could post any juicy highlights. 8-)

Am not able to make either wish i could

If you can't make it then the presentation will be available tommorrow afternoon for download at www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk

Many Thanks KK2000 8-)

A tip in the sunday telegraph


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/04/29/cxequit29.xml

I was hard to believe today's trade's over 5 million buy's and 156 thousand sells and such a small rise on the day. Could it be all down the tip in the Sunday telegraph
why so many bought in i would have thought not or some big seller ready to offload, or maybe somethink else